Some impressive (reported) numbers floating around about the first day of pre-orders and in-store collection reservations:

— Over 50,000 pre-orders in a two hour period

— Over 90,000 pre-orders after six hours

— Over 40,000 in-store pickup reservations

So … if those are fairly accurate, Apple should have ended the first day of pre-orders with at or above 100,000 of them. Plus almost half that again in store collection reservations. If I remember right, the Palm Pre, one of the most anticipated and talked about new devices of last year, sold around 100,000 units on its opening weekend. If the numbers being flung around so far are acurate, iPad looks to have bested that before its opening weekend even arrives.

I wouldn’t be surprised if these numbers turn out to be right, and I think demand is going to be high when it hits stores as well. This is just my feeling based on people I know offline and online. It just feels as is an awful lot of the folks who started out saying ‘no way’ are now saying ‘I ordered’. Seems to me that in the weeks since Steve Jobs’ announcement of the iPad, enthusiasm for it has been steadily growing.

What do you all think? Is interest in the iPad growing? Do you think it’s going to be another hit for Apple?